by Pete Ryan
This one is going to annoy you in some respects. I will tell you right from the outset that
there are not an ideal number of times per week, duration or intensity to train
at. A lot depends on things like exact age,
outside stress, other activities that will affect how many times a week you
train and how long those sessions last. I can sum up the ideal in one sentence
though and from there we can look at options.
The amount of times a
week you can stick to and the time you are willing to put in each session is
the ideal...
That answer probably nearly made you throw your phone/laptop
through the nearest wall! I know that is a really aggravating answer, but that
is the stark truth. I can give you the
perfect workout for you, but if you are not willing to do it, then it is an
inferior workout to hitting the whole body once for 45 minutes a week. If you
can stick like glue to once a week, but do your ‘perfect’ workout for 2 weeks
and then never do it again, which is the best?
Being honest with yourself
Let’s start with being honest. You may have decided that
working out 4 times a week is perfect to maximise your muscle gains, but will
you actually turn up for every session? I am not talking about now, but in 3
weeks, in 3 months or even in a year or more? What about when you have that
room to decorate, what about when you need to get those tax returns done, what
about when the stress at work means you are feeling burnt out? If you can, then fine, but if you can
definitely get 2 sessions in per week, but would struggle with 4, then 2 would
be your ideal.
I will start with something many people will find very controversial,
my opinions on age and training.
Age
Let’s cut to the chase on this one. I find it hard listening to a young guy
talking about how older people should exercise. They may have some experience in that area, but they do not live with the
issues getting older brings. I am sure
many younger people have insights, but I prefer to get the opinion of older
coaches and personal trainers. For the record I am over 50 and have had
injuries and issues that many older trainees have been through.
My belief is that older people need to do more than their
younger equivalents. I know, that is not
the common view point. In fact most
coaches suggest that older athletes do less, but hear me out and make up your
own mind.
Most older trainees are less interested in competition and
more interested in training longevity, plus most older trainees have previous
injuries (because we too were once young and very stupid!). So, our goals are
often not maximum lifts, but heavy weights done for sets, encouraging
hypertrophy (muscle growth) and fighting off old age. To do these lifts we need
much more time warming up and doing mobility than the younger lifter doing the
same exercises. An older person may need
to warm up and mobilise the shoulders and elbows for 10-15 minutes to hit a press,
we may also need to move our bodies a lot more to maintain flexibility and
strength throughout the range of motion of an exercise. So, we may spend a
greater proportion of time doing mobility, bodyweight movements and preparing
our bodies for the workout than a younger person.
So whereas a younger person may have:
- · 5 minute Warm-up
- · 45 minute workout
An older person may have:
- · 20 minute warm-up
- · 40 minute workout
So as you can see, the older person will be moving their
body for longer than the younger person.
As you age the whole idea of use it or lose it becomes
much more immediate. The older you
become, the quicker it is to lose the ability to do an exercise and the harder
it is to gain new skills or regain lost physical abilities. If you do not practice skills regularly, then
they will disappear, so if you are like most people who hit the gym and do not
wish to lose any skills you have acquired over the years, then you will have to
practice skills a lot more often than when you were younger. The sheer mass of abilities you want to keep
also force you to be doing physical activity a lot more. Let me hasten to add that you may do these
outside the gym. You could practice a
range of bodyweight movements at home (Planche, L-sit, pull-ups, push-ups,
headstands, handstands, sprinting...the list goes on), but these all have to
fit into your weekly/monthly, schedule if you wish to keep these abilities into
really old age. Also most of these need some sort of warm-up to avoid injury.
So, as you can see an older trainee may need to spend more
total time working out as they need to warm-up in a thorough fashion and
practice physical abilities more often.
What this does not mean is working out balls to the wall every day, or anything like that. I do believe that older people should do
something physical everyday. This can be
as simple as some push-ups and pull-ups at home, or going out and sprinting for
10 minutes, rope jumping on the porch or 30 minutes mobility, but everyday
something should be done. Coach Dan John
has a saying:
If it is important, do it every day
For the older athlete this is especially true. If you need to improve your squat, then squat
every day. This does not mean go to max
every morning doing a back squat. Simply
add bodyweight squats into your warm-up, or just knock out some squats every day. Even ditch your chairs and sit on a cushion
on the floor, so if you want to get up or sit down, you are forced into a full
squat. For the older athlete holding a barbell, a single kettlebell or dumbbell
overhead and squatting adds unique challenges, using weights that stress the
back a lot less, or get an Ironmind Hip Belt if the back is an issue. As an older trainee you need to get creative
working around the limitations your body imposes.
Movement (NEAT)
Non-exercise Activity
thermogenesis is the fancy term used to describe things you do that burn
calories, but are not part of your exercise routine. In keeping with my belief that
older trainees need to workout more often, I also believe that the older you
get the more important it is to move more often than younger people. Things
like walking to the shops, spending 10 minutes after each meal walking (good
for anyone who wants to improve insulin sensitivity), just doing physical
things becomes more important for the older athlete. You need to plan your life in such a way that
you can be active outside of the gym. Think about it, no matter how hard you
workout for 30-60 minutes, it will never, ever overcome being sedentary for
23-23.30 hours every day, how could it? So, plan on regular activity throughout
the day. Anyone can go for a walk for 10
minutes after each meal, just try it.
Eat a meal then walk 5 minutes one way, turn around and walk 5 minutes
back, aim at a brisk pace. If you sit
for an hour, get up, stretch and do mobility for 10 minutes, then carry
on. In the long run this will help you
achieve your goals.
Picking your movements
Most of the movements you choose should be things you enjoy. If you hate everything then you will never
succeed as you will find any excuse to avoid them. However, there are some things you know need
to be done, you will probably hate these.
These are things you need to do. Add
them at the start, not the end of a session, put the things you really enjoy at
the end, so you are more likely to finish a session. So, if you have a bad shoulder, doing band
dislocates, band pull aparts and clubbell swings may be boring for you, but they
may be very necessary. You may need to
add in 5-10% of things you do not enjoy doing, but mainly include things you
enjoy doing.
Exactly what you do isn’t important. You need to include:
Upper body vertical pushing (overhead press, steep incline
press are 2 examples)
Upper body vertical pulling (Pull-up, chin up)
Upper body horizontal pushing (Bench press, push-up)
Upper body horizontal pulling (bent over row, inverted row)
Hip hinge (deadlift variation, KB swing)
Legs (Squat variation, leg press)
You do not need to do these every session, or even every
week. Simply rotate thing in and out as often as you like.
Wrap up
I could talk a lot about this, if you are interested comment
below. I can discuss routines, methods, diets or go into more details about any related issue
if those are of interest to you?
New Year
Bargains
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